


Around the world and back again

by Aguacates, soobing



Category: Monsta X (Band), NCT (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: M/M, Spiderverse AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-21 13:17:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21075527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aguacates/pseuds/Aguacates, https://archiveofourown.org/users/soobing/pseuds/soobing
Summary: “So I guess you’re here to make me into a superhero.”(Jeongguk gets stuck in the wrong universe.)





	Around the world and back again

**Author's Note:**

> hey !!!!!! welcome to spiderverse by el and hollie!
> 
> just fyi, this fic has 3 main pairings but they won't really come into focus until later, but if ur here for a certain one rest assured! it will have its time to shine!

Jeongguk doesn’t know why he’s here.

He meets Spider-Man when he bumps right into him, says an awed _ “Whoa,” _and stares. 

The guy is tall, and Jeongguk’s first impression is that he looks pretty sleepy. He’s staring back. 

“Nice costume,” is what he says finally. He sidesteps Jeongguk and starts to walk away. 

“Hey!” Jeongguk exclaims. “Where are you going?” he calls, more than a little frantic. He’s definitely not at home, and he doesn’t know where to go. 

“Home,” the guy says. He stops and looks back at Jeongguk. He looks almost like he’s in pain. He gives a barely visible sigh. 

“But—” Jeongguk hesitates. “You’re like me, right?” 

Defeat shows itself in the guy’s shoulders. “I guess so.” 

His name is Hyungwon. 

That’s the first thing he tells Jeongguk, after he motions for him to walk with him. Then he says, “So I guess you’re here to make me into a superhero.” 

Jeongguk stops. “Wait, what?” 

Hyungwon blinks at him. “You’re here to like... train me?” 

“Oh,” says Jeongguk. “Uh-oh.” 

It happened a couple weeks ago. It was just a spider, he _ thought, _and he’s a little squeamish but he really tries not to make a big deal about spiders because he wants to look cool. Especially in front of Namjoon. 

Then he woke up sweaty, head racing, feeling stronger but clumsier, and sticking to _ everything. _

He wasn’t sure if it’s in the superhero rules that you’re not supposed to talk about your powers, so he didn’t. He started playing with them, trying to see what his body could do, but he didn’t tell anyone. Who was there to talk to? Spider-Man, he’s certain, doesn’t _ exist. _

Right? 

So he decided to figure out his powers for himself. Then maybe if he gets really good with them, he can tell someone. Namjoon might think it’s cool. But if he needs help—superhero help—it’ll have to find him. 

“I am not Spider-Man,” says Hyungwon. 

“Are you working on names as well? I thought Boy Spider or Bug Boy, but they all sounded weird.” Jeongguk is struggling to keep up. Hyungwon’s legs are so much longer than his.

“No, no I mean I’m not _ Spider-Man _. Sure I’m like you but I don’t solve crimes or anything like that,” Hyungwon explains. 

“Oh—What do you use your powers for?” Jeongguk asks. If Hyungwon thinks Jeongguk is being annoying for asking questions, he doesn’t show it. He’s still got the same sleepy look on his face. 

“It’s easier to get homework done,” Hyungwon says, and leaves it at that. 

Jeongguk pushes down his disappointment in favor of his confusion. “Hyung—Hyungwon-ssi—Hyungwon-hyung? You know I’m not from here, right?” 

Hyungwon looks down at him. “You’re not from Seoul?” 

“I’m not from _ here.” _ He holds his hands out in front of him. What’s the best way to say that Jeon Jeongguk, _ Spider-Man, _doesn’t exist here? “This is a different... universe.” 

Hyungwon doesn’t say anything. But after he slows down and takes a left toward some big residential building, Jeongguk can see that he looks kind of sick. “Well,” he says finally. “I wish I could really be surprised.” 

Hyungwon’s room is messy and not very well-lit. “When my roommate gets back, we’ll tell him we’re working on a project together,” he says. “Wait, how old are you?” 

“Uh, twenty-one. Have you seen _ Into the Spider-Verse?” _

“Good, you’re older than you look. You can sit on the bed, just—yeah, the clothes can go on the floor. What’s ‘Into the Spider-Verse’?”

“Oh no,” Jeongguk says, wounded. “It’s, like. The best movie of all time.” 

“Uh, I’ll try to watch it sometime?”

“No,” Jeongguk says, frustrated. “It’s like—our guidebook. This kid, Miles, he becomes Spider-Man, and then other Spider-Men from other universes show up to help him defeat this bad guy.” 

Hyungwon frowns. He pulls out his phone, and after a second, he looks back up at Jeongguk. "That movie doesn't exist," he says. 

Jeongguk thinks that's very sad for him. "It must not be a thing in this universe. That sucks. I think it's important to us."

He gets a skeptical frown in response. “So you want to take a movie as our guide?” 

Jeongguk huffs. “Did you have another idea?” 

Hyungwon tilts his face up to the ceiling, closes his eyes for five seconds, then looks back at Jeongguk. “Okay, kid. Tell me about this movie.” 

“You can just write it down,” Hyungwon says as he walks over to the desk in the corner of the room, hands Jeongguk a folded notebook and a pencil. 

Jeongguk knows he’s not really interested, but he doesn’t know what else to do, so he starts writing down the plot of the movie. 

Jeongguk gets to work whilst Hyungwon grabs a laptop and leaves the room. He feels a little awkward being in someone else’s bedroom, but he tries not to think too much about it and focuses on the plot of the movie. He writes down everything important he can remember: different verses, verse jumping, alternate Spider-Men. 

Hyungwon comes in and out of the room a few times, grabs things like a notepad and a charger and doesn’t look at Jeongguk. He feels like he should say something to him, but he’s not entirely sure what. 

Eventually Jeongguk finishes writing down the plot. He’s even drawn pictures of each spider-person; he thought the visuals might help. 

He sits on the bed, not really knowing what to do with himself. It doesn’t seem like Hyungwon is coming back, so he shuffles out the bedroom to try and find him, clutching the notebook full of Spider-Verse notes. 

Hyungwon is at the kitchen table. Most of the lights are off, so his face is glowing blue by the screen of his laptop. He looks up as Jeongguk comes in. “Are you finished?” 

Jeongguk nods. He hands Hyungwon the notebook, and Hyungwon flips through the pages. He raises his eyebrows when he sees the illustrations. 

“Wow,” he says, a careful sounding _ wow _like he still doesn’t know what to do with what Jeongguk is trying to tell him. He motions to his laptop. “I need to finish this paper. I might have to look over these tomorrow.” 

Jeongguk nods and looks down. There’s something tight and maybe a little scared in his stomach. 

“I’ll probably be up for a while longer,” Hyungwon says. “But I think I have a sleeping bag somewhere? I’d let you take the couch, but it’s technically not allowed to have guests sleep over, so it’s best if my roommate doesn’t see you.” 

“Oh.” Jeongguk can’t hide his surprise. “I can stay here?” 

Hyungwon raises his eyebrows. “Were you planning on staying somewhere else?” 

Jeongguk rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry for, like, forcing myself on you.” Something lonely and intense is wrapped around him. Hyungwon doesn’t know what’s going on any better than he does, and he doesn’t really seem to want to understand. It makes Jeongguk feel extra tired. 

Hyungwon gives him a smile. “You’re fine. Get some sleep. We’ll figure something out tomorrow.” 

So Jeongguk curls up in Hyungwon’s bright purple sleeping bag in an open spot on his floor, lays his head on a flat pillow and tries to get some sleep. 

He wakes up the next morning when Hyungwon trips over his legs. 

“Shit!” Hyungwon whisper-yells. 

Jeongguk sits up and blinks and tries to figure out where he is. “Sorry,” he murmurs and pulls his knees to his chest. 

“It’s fine.” Hyungwon grabs some clothes and goes to sit on his bed to change, which is very weird. “I’m gonna be late to lab. I needed to run to the library and print that essay for my second class.” 

“Oh,” Jeongguk says. “Do you want me to do it for you?” 

Hyungwon gives him a long look. “Actually, that would help a lot,” he says after a minute. 

“Okay,” Jeongguk says brightly. He shimmies out of the sleeping bag. “I can print stuff. I can do that.” He looks down at himself. He’s in his underwear and one of Hyungwon’s t-shirts, having shed his suit before going to bed last night. “Do you have, like...?” 

Hyungwon stops. “Uh-oh,” he says. “My pants will never fit you. Um... you know what, one second.” He leaves the room. Jeongguk stands awkwardly and waits for him to come back. When he does, he’s holding a pair of black track pants. “These are my roommate’s. He’s already gone for the day. Hopefully... hopefully he won’t notice.” 

Jeongguk takes the pants and looks at them. It feels weird and wrong to wear a stranger’s pants without asking, but he doesn’t have a lot of options right now. “Okay,” he says finally. “Thanks.” 

Hyungwon gets him a hoodie, tosses him an apple for breakfast and makes himself a cup of coffee, and then they leave the room. Jeongguk clutches to his chest the notebook he was using to make notes in last night. 

“Is this what university is like?” Jeongguk asks. The dismay is evident in his voice. 

Hyungwon snorts. “It is for me, at least.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “I hate waking up early.” 

“You don’t eat breakfast,” Jeongguk points out. 

“I prefer sleep.” 

Hyungwon takes him to the library. “The printers are on the second floor. My lab is in that building.” He points to a building a ways away. “I’ll meet you outside in an hour and a half, okay?” 

Jeongguk nods. An hour and a half—that gives him time to do some research in the library. 

He goes to print the essay first. He logs onto one of the student computers with the information Hyungwon gave him. While he’s in, he goes to pull up a map of the city. 

At first glance, things look mostly the same. But when he looks a little more, he realizes that in this verse, the city is a little bigger. The train system is laid out differently, barely noticeable, but there. It’s extra strange, because in his escapades as _ Spider-Man, _Jeongguk was getting really familiar with his version of Seoul. 

He closes out the map and sends Hyungwon’s essay to print. 

After he picks it up and staples it together neatly, he decides to check out the science section, maybe see if he can find anything about dimensions that will help him. Maybe this verse has done more research on that than his has. 

The section is quiet this morning. The only students he’s seen so far were at the computers, so he doesn’t feel like he has to hide. 

He picks up a couple titles that look interesting. As he flips through them, he starts to feel some sharp pain in his ribs. It feels like cramps, but like it’s tugging at him from the inside. He tries to ignore it, but after a minute it’s so bad he thinks he’s about to either throw up or fall over. 

Jeongguk sets the books down and holds a hand to his ribs. “Fuck,” he mutters, looking around for the bathroom. He needs—something. Water. Or just a rest. 

He walks back toward the front of the library. There’s a nice and sleepy looking guy with glasses on at the front desk, and Jeongguk tries not to bend over on himself at the pain as he approaches. “Excuse me,” he breathes. “Where’s the bathroom?” 

The guy looks up from his book. “It’s back that way, past the art,” he motions. He pushes his glasses up his nose and watches with knitted eyebrows as Jeongguk presses his hand to his chest and hurries in that direction. 

The bathroom is empty. Jeongguk shuts himself in a stall and collapses. He hears himself let out a strangled noise of pain before he’s curling in on himself. 

The tugging thing _ yanks, _and Jeongguk’s whole body seizes up. It hurts so bad he can’t focus, so he can’t be sure, but he thinks, for the tiniest split of a second, he’s somewhere else. 

Back home. 

The pain stops suddenly, and he’s limp on the bathroom floor. He pushes himself up gingerly and sits against the wall, breathing and trying to make sure the pain is over. 

Fuck. So that’s what it feels like to be in the wrong dimension. 

Jeongguk raises his head as the door to the bathroom opens. He scrambles to try and get on his feet, act like everything is normal in here. 

“Hey, are you still in here?” comes a voice. A beat. “I see your shoes. You just asked me where the bathroom was.” 

Oh. It’s the boy from the front desk. 

“I’m still here,” Jeongguk says. He knocks his head forward against the door. 

“Are you okay? You didn’t look so good. Do you want me to call someone for you?” 

That’s nice. Even if Jeongguk did want that, though, he doesn’t know who he’d have the guy call. He doesn’t even know Hyungwon’s family name. “I’m okay,” he says. He unlocks the stall door and steps out slowly. “Thank you, though.” 

“Okay.” The boy smiles. “There’s a water fountain just outside here, if you need it.” 

Jeongguk nods. “Thanks.” 

He mostly feels back to normal as he gets a drink of water and heads back to the books he abandoned, but every time he feels something around his stomach or ribs he gets a little panicky. It doesn’t fade from his mind until right before he goes to meet Hyungwon. 

“Hey,” Hyungwon says as Jeongguk hands him his essay. “Thank you for this. Are you okay? You look kind of shaken up.” 

Jeongguk shakes his head. “I’ll tell you about it later. You said you have another class now, right?” 

“I do. It’s only for an hour, though. Hey, are you good with directions?” 

“Better now that I have, you know.” Jeongguk taps his head. 

Hyungwon cracks a smile. “Me too. If I give you directions, do you want to meet me at the cafe near where we ran into each other yesterday? We can get something to eat there.” 

So about half an hour later, Jeongguk is standing awkwardly far away from the counter at the cafe, realizing he has no money. 

“Hello!” says the handsome guy at the counter. “What can I get you today?” 

“Uh,” Jeongguk says awkwardly. “Sorry, I’m meeting my friend in half an hour. Is it okay for me to wait and order then?” 

The guy smiles warmly. “Of course. Have your pick.” He gestures around at the mostly empty cafe. “Do you like cookies? My coworker just messed up a bunch.” He says the last part extra loud. 

A shorter guy pokes his head out of the kitchen. “Jaehyun-hyung, putting chocolate in cookies is _ not _messing them up.” 

“Yeah, okay,” the guy—Jaehyun—says. “Just bring me a couple, okay?” He looks at Jeongguk. “If you want, I mean.” 

Jeongguk smiles at him. “That’s really nice, thank you.” 

Jaehyun gives him two big cookies and lets him sit down. The quiet gives him a chance to read over the notes he made and write down some theories. 

It just doesn’t make a lot of sense. He bumped right into Hyungwon, who doesn’t even really seem to have a _ purpose _as Spider-Man. Who is just using his abilities to help him coast along. 

Not that he isn’t nice! Probably. Jeongguk likes him! He thinks. But Hyungwon was telling the truth yesterday when he said he wasn’t Spider-Man. 

But maybe, Jeongguk thinks, his problem is that he’s thinking about this as if it were _ meant to be, _ and the _ meant to be _angle doesn’t make a lot of sense since neither he nor Hyungwon really knows what they’re doing, when it comes to their abilities. 

Maybe he needs to consider it as... Not meant to be. 

His train of thought is interrupted when Hyungwon walks in. 

Hyungwon sees him immediately and calls, “Yah, kid! Come order something.” 

Jeongguk closes his notebook and hurries to Hyungwon’s side. 

“Oh! Hyungwon is your friend?” says Jaehyun when they get to the counter. 

“He uses kid as a term of endearment, right?” asks the kid from the back, loudly. 

“Not now, Mark,” Hyungwon calls. He motions. “That’s Mark,” he tells Jeongguk. “And that’s Jaehyun.” 

The kid comes back out. “I’m Mark.” 

“Hi, Mark,” Jeongguk says. “I’m Jeongguk. Nice to meet you both.” He grabs Hyungwon’s arm and leans up to whisper in his ear. “Hyung, I don’t have any money.” 

Hyungwon sighs, but it doesn’t seem like an annoyed sigh. “I know. I got it.” 

“Sorry.” Jeongguk wrinkles his nose. 

“Don’t worry about it. They give me half off here.” Hyungwon grins. 

“It’s because we think he’s pretty,” Jaehyun says with a straight face. 

Jeongguk smiles. 

They order, and right before they go to sit down Jeongguk hears Hyungwon ask Jaehyun quietly, “Where’s Changkyun?” 

“He has a test to study for this afternoon, so he and Mark switched shifts. I’ll tell him you asked about him.” When Jeongguk turns his head, he can see Jaehyun grinning. 

“Do not tell him that,” Hyungwon says. He takes the drinks Jaehyun hands him and ushers Jeongguk away. 

“Who’s Changkyun?” 

“A friend,” is all Hyungwon says. He sits down. 

Jeongguk nods, but regards him suspiciously. Jaehyun brings their food over, and as Jeongguk starts to eat he feels a sharp pain in his stomach. 

He sets his chopsticks down and takes a sharp breath. 

Hyungwon looks startled. “You okay?” 

The feeling goes away. It was just a cramp. He was probably just hungry from only eating an apple today. 

“Yeah,” Jeongguk says. “Just—scared me. Earlier I had a, like, episode. From being in the wrong dimension, I think.” 

Hyungwon shushes him. “Talk about that a little quieter,” he whispers. “We don’t need, you know.” He gestures toward the counter. “Mark is a big Spider-Man fan.” 

Jeongguk presses his lips together. “Sorry. Anyway. It really hurt. I think I went somewhere else. Just barely long enough to see it. I don’t know if it was home, or... somewhere else.” 

For a moment, Hyungwon doesn’t say anything. Then he pushes his food away from him and says, “Wow. This is really not where you’re supposed to be, is it?”

Jeongguk can feel the phantom ache in his stomach again, he shoves a mouthful of food in his mouth before he lets the panic set in again. 

“No, it’s not,” Jeongguk mumbles, chewing slowly. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be doing here.” 

Hyungwon doesn’t say anything again. He stays quiet as he eats his food, but he looks like he’s thinking about something. Jeongguk isn’t sure what but there’s a crease between his eyebrows where he’s frowning. 

“I have a friend,” Hyungwon begins, “I think he might be able to help us figure out what’s happening,” Hyungwon says quietly.

Jeongguk’s eyebrows shoot up. “Oh, thank you, hyung.”

“What? Don’t thank me, I needed to see him for some class notes tomorrow anyway,” Hyungwon dismisses.

Jeongguk just nods and carries on eating. He doesn’t understand how Hyungwon just doesn’t seem to care about any of this—doesn’t care that Jeongguk just _ appeared _in his universe, or that they are both Spider-Men. 

When Jeongguk first got his powers, one of the first things he tried to do was climb up the side of his building. He fell and grazed his knees pretty bad. He couldn’t believe the ultimate dream of his childhood came _ true. _ Jeongguk mentally kicks his younger self for ever dreaming about superpowers; they’re hard, and Jeongguk is so tired. 

Hyungwon, however, said he doesn’t use his powers unless it’s helpful to him. Jeongguk doesn't get it. Doesn’t get how Hyungwon isn’t fazed by _ any of this. _ He just wishes Hyungwon would at least look over the notes Jeongguk wrote about _ Into The Spider-Verse. _It could be the start of figuring out how to get home. Jeongguk can’t do it himself. 

They eat the rest of their food in silence. Jeongguk takes the time to let his eyes wander around the cafe. 

It’s fairly small. The walls are dark and the furniture is wooden. The lighting is warm and soft. There are couches near the back of the cafe, a few sets of tables, and a long bar next to the counter. If this place was in Jeongguk’s universe, he’d definitely spend a lot of time here. 

He also notices the people who work here. He knows Jaehyun and Mark, but there’s another boy who’s tall with ears that poke out. He keeps laughing and putting Mark in a headlock. Mark tries to break free but it keeps making the boy laugh harder. There’s another unreasonably attractive man who keeps coming out the back to tell the two boys to quit it. He doesn’t look annoyed, though; Jeongguk can hear the laughter in his voice. They all look friendly, and Jeongguk hopes if he stays here, Hyungwon will bring him back.

So far, Jeongguk has felt so out of place here he aches with it. He misses his home so much, but this place makes him feel the tiniest flicker of something warm. 

Hyungwon pulls Jeongguk out of his thoughts by dropping his chopsticks in the bowl and standing up to leave. He says nothing as he starts to walk so Jeongguk assumes this means he has to follow. 

Before they reach the door, the handsome man from before comes running out of the back, carrying a tray of cookies.

“Yah! Hyungwon-ah! You were going to leave without introducing me to your new friend? I’m outraged,” handsome man from before shouts. 

Hyungwon sighs. “This is Seokjin-hyung.” He waves a hand at Jeongguk. “That’s Jeongguk.” 

“He’s cute, Hyungwon-ah! Changkyun is gonna be so sad you’ve moved on,” Seokjin grins.

Hyungwon glares at him. “This is my _ friend _ Jeongguk. Just like Changkyun is my _ friend. _” 

Jeongguk feels something fizzle in his chest at Hyungwon calling him his friend, but then he realises it’s the easiest thing to say in terms of why Jeongguk is even here.

Seokjin winks at Hyungwon. “Sure thing.” He turns to Jeongguk. “Take some more cookies! I made extra, and whatever you do, don't give any to Hyungwon,” hesays as he leans the tray closer to Jeongguk. 

“Um—thank you,” Jeongguk says a little awkwardly as he takes two cookies off the tray, feeling like it would be rude to decline. 

Hyungwon rolls his eyes. “Come on kid,” he says as he pulls the door open. 

Jeongguk follows, hearing a chorus of _ Bye guys! _So he waves as he walks out the door behind Hyungwon. 

Jeongguk feels exhausted. He can't wait to get back to Hyungwon’s apartment and fall asleep. He just wants to forget about everything that is happening, even just for a couple of hours. He drags his feet along. Walking feels like an effort and the exhaustion runs bone deep. 

The pain from earlier comes back in phantom waves, but Jeongguk thinks it's more likely is anxiousness than it is the same pain. He really, _ really _ doesn't hope it happens again, but he can't bring himself to be that optimistic. He almost feels grateful that Hyungwon doesn't speak the entire walk home.

Hyungwon kicks open the door to his apartment and drops his keys in the bowl on the dresser next to the door. Jeongguk hovers a little awkwardly in the doorway. 

“Oh. My roommate is here, so if he questions anything, just say you’ve transferred to our school. I don't think he’ll ask anything, though,” Hyungwon says. 

“Sure,” Jeongguk says as he follows Hyungwon into the apartment. He shuffles his shoes off and sits down on the couch, glad to have a small chance to rest. 

“Hyungwon-ah? I was going to order chicken. Do you want some?” 

Jeongguk sits up. He knows that voice. How could he not? It can't be, though. It's not possible. There is no way it could be _ him _. A wave of uneasiness rolls through Jeongguk. He can't breathe. This isn't happening. 

Then Hyungwon’s roommate walks into the room. Jeongguk was right. It’s him. He’s in this universe, except it's not _ him, _ it's someone different. He doesn't know Jeongguk, and he feels the urge to cry sitting thick in his throat. 

“Namjoon?” 

“Oh, hi!” Namjoon says, and his voice is just surprise. No recognition. “Sorry, I didn’t know you had someone over. Have we met?” he asks Jeongguk. 

It hurts, and then it _ hurts— _that damn pull at his insides, like he’s being yanked back and forth. “I need to use the bathroom,” he gasps, and he hears Hyungwon saying his name in concern as he jolts down the hallway. 

He curls up on the floor, all shaky, and it happens again. 

It goes by faster this time, and it hurts a little less. When it ends, Hyungwon is knocking at the bathroom door. 

“Hey,” he says. “Can I come in?” 

Jeongguk sits up against the wall. “Yeah.” 

Hyungwon does. He comes in slowly, sits down and pulls his long legs up, knees to his chest. “Are you okay?” 

Jeongguk nods. Then he shakes his head. 

“Same thing as earlier?” 

“Yeah.” Jeongguk worries at his bottom lip. “It was because of Namjoon, I think.” 

Hyungwon sits on that for a second. “You... know him?” 

Jeongguk clasps his arms around his knees and stares at a chip in the tile. “I have a Namjoon.” 

And god, he’s known since yesterday that he isn’t at home. That he isn’t in _ his universe. _That he and Hyungwon don’t belong in the same place. But running into a Namjoon who doesn’t know him is the loneliest part of this whole thing. The scariest part. 

Jeongguk huffs a laugh to himself. “I really like him,” he says to Hyungwon. “He looks exactly like that, and sounds exactly like that, and I. I kind of love him.” 

He starts to cry a little. Hyungwon looks fully dismayed, and hands him a piece of toilet paper. 

“Sorry for crying,” he mumbles. It’s embarrassing to cry in front of Hyungwon. He’s been too blasé about this. He doesn’t take Jeongguk seriously. 

“It’s okay,” Hyungwon says. “This is scary, huh?” 

Jeongguk laughs, mostly to try and stop himself from crying more. “Yeah, it’s scary,” he says. He wipes his cheeks. 

“I’m sorry.” 

When Jeongguk looks up, Hyungwon is studying him. 

“I have someone like that,” Hyungwon says, still looking at him. “I have a Namjoon, but for me. He was mentioned before. Changkyun. I’ve liked him for a long time. I think I might—_ love _him, too. Every time I speak to him I end up looking like a nerd.” Hyungwon smiles a little. “He’s good, though. Really good. So I get it. I don't get why you want to be Spider-Man, or anything that’s happening. But I get this,” Hyungwon finishes, and Jeongguk feels less like crying. 

He doesn’t have the thick knot of tears in his throat anymore. He’s almost certain Hyungwon still doesn’t take him seriously, but he doesn’t feel as hurt right now. Hyungwon opened up to him. It was only a small thing but Jeongguk really appreciates the gesture.

“Look, I don't want to be Spider-Man. I like my life, and I don’t want it to change. But, it’s obviously important to you. So I’ll help okay? We can talk to my friend about it, see if he has any idea on how to get you home.” Hyungwon looks at Jeongguk again, probably to see if he’s still crying. “I don’t like seeing you hurt. I don't want that for you. So I’ll help, we can figure it out.” Hyungwon says, trying to sound reassuring.

Jeongguk nods. “Thank you.” His voice is a little scratchy. 

“If you want, we can go to my room?” Hyungwon offers. “Or we can go speak to Namjoon. But I kind of feel like you might not want to do that.” 

Jeongguk clears his throat, blinks away the last of his tears. “Can we just go to your room? I’m worried that I’ll feel that _ pain _again,” he says timidly. 

Hyungwon nods. “That’s okay. Just give me a minute, and I’ll talk to Namjoon.” 

Jeongguk nods. “Um. Thanks, Hyungwon-hyung. I know you don’t want me here, so I appreciate this. A lot. Thank you.” He can feel himself wanting to cry again. 

Hyungwon just looks at him as he stands by the door. “We’ll sort things out, okay, kid? Just let me speak to Namjoon.” 

Jeongguk is left alone. He still feels alone, but maybe a little less now. He can’t speak to not- Namjoon yet. The idea makes him feel queasy. 

He doesn’t think he can face Namjoon looking at him like he doesn’t know him. He knows it’s not Namjoon, but it’s too much. It feels too real. It makes him feel even more isolated, that Namjoon doesn’t know him. It hurts more than anything else so far. 

Hyungwon comes back a couple of minutes later. “The story is you’ve recently transferred here from Gwangju, and that’s how I know you because it’s where I’m from. You got upset because he looked like someone you knew from home. It’s not a great story, but it’s the best I could come up with. I’m not a very good liar,” Hyungwon says. 

“Is he okay? Your Namjoon. He’s not upset, is he?” Jeongguk asks. 

“He feels bad that his face made you sad,” Hyungwon says with a small smile. 

That hurts Jeongguk, because it sounds like something _ his _ Namjoon would say.

“Jeez, kid, please don’t cry again. Talk to him in the morning. For now, come to my room and get some sleep.” 

Jeongguk nods and follows Hyungwon to his room. 

Once they’re inside his room, Hyungwon turns to him. “This sounds weird, but you’ve had a weird night. Do you maybe wanna sleep up here? We can top and tail, or we could share the pillows? We don’t have to spoon or anything weird. I just thought you might appreciate a bed instead of that tiny sleeping bag.” 

“Are you sure? I’d really like that. I like to be close to people when I’m feeling. Um. Sad. Sorry, that’s weird,” Jeongguk says sheepishly. 

“Alright kid. No cuddling, though.” Hyungwon points a finger at him. 

Jeongguk huffs out a laugh. “Deal.” 

They climb into bed together. It’s a little awkward. Actually, it’s very awkward. But Jeongguk appreciates sleeping in a bed, the gesture that Hyungwon gave. Jeongguk feels the ache in his chest lighten thinking about Hyungwon actually talking to him properly, telling him private stuff. He didn’t have to do that, but he did. He did it to make Jeongguk feel better.

Jeongguk falls asleep feeling the smallest flicker of something hopeful. Something good. 

The next morning, Jeogguk wakes up before Hyungwon. He climbs out of bed and goes towards the kitchen for some water. 

As he walks to the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and feeling a little groggy he notices Namjoon. Oh. 

Namjoon’s leant against the countertop, waiting for their kettle to boil. He looks up. “Good morning,” he smiles. It’s a hesitant smile; Jeongguk knows, because he knows Namjoon’s hesitant smile. He probably still feels bad after last night. 

“Good morning,” he says back. He steps forward, a hand on the back of his neck. “Um. I’m Jeon Jeongguk. Sorry about last night. I wasn’t feeling so good.” 

“That’s okay, Jeongguk,” Namjoon says. “I hope you got some good rest and you’re feeling better.” 

“Thank you, hyung—uh, Namjoon-ssi,” Jeongguk corrects. He feels himself blush at the feeling of not knowing how to address this Namjoon. 

Namjoon looks a little embarrassed, too. “Hyung is fine.” He clears his throat. “I’m making coffee for me and Hyungwon. Do you want some? Or.” He motions at the kettle. “I think we have tea, too.” 

“Oh, I’ll just have some water,” Jeongguk says, and he goes to get himself a glass, but Namjoon is faster. In a second he hands him a glass of water. “Thank you,” Jeongguk says awkwardly. 

This Namjoon is nice, but still plenty awkward, so Jeongguk is a little relieved when he leaves right as Hyungwon comes out of his bedroom. 

“You okay?” Hyungwon asks as the door closes. He pours himself coffee and looks at Jeongguk carefully. 

“I’m fine,” Jeongguk says. He has to repeat it to himself. 

Jeongguk meets Hyungwon outside the library after his last class of the afternoon. They go to the lab, and the first person they run into is Changkyun. 

He’s sat on a lab stool, reading through a notepad, and he lifts his head up when Hyungwon and Jeongguk walk through the door. 

“Oh, hey, hyung. Who’s this?” Changkyun questions. 

Hyungwon is acting weirder he usually is. He’s gripping Jeongguk’s elbow, and has his head bent downwards. “Uh, hi Changkyun-ah. This is Jeongguk.” Hyungwon nods at him. “And this is Changkyun.” 

_ Oh. _This is Changkyun. He looks nice, kind of intimidating maybe, but not enough that Jeongguk feels weird around him. He looks like a wolf. His expression is neutral but Jeongguk can see a little warmth behind his eyes when he looks at Hyungwon.

“Um. Is Kihyun here? I have to show him something.” Hyungwon asks a little awkwardly. 

“Yeah, he was stolen away by Minhyuk and Jooheon for lunch. I think they’re coming back soon. You can come and sit here whilst you wait, if you want,”

Hyungwon nods eagerly. “Yeah! Yes. Cool, we’ll sit here.” 

Jeongguk tries not to laugh as he sits down at the table with Hyungwon and Changkyun. Hyungwon really is gone for him. It would be sweet if Jeongguk didn’t find it so relatable.

The silence is awkward. Jeongguk doesn't really know what to say as Changkyun flicks through more notes and Hyungwon furiously types on his phone. Jeongguk assumes he’s texting his other friends. He assumes this because it's definitely what Jeongguk would do if he was with Namjoon.

Eventually, three other boys come into the lab. One is short, with a really pretty face. He’s walking in with a couple (Jeongguk assumes) who are holding hands. One seems really nice right off the bat. His cheeks look soft, and Jeongguk can see his dimples when he talks. The boy he’s holding hands with is talking loudly. He’s reaching over and pinching the other boy’s cheeks, making him giggle. 

“Hi, guys! Hello, person who I have never seen before,” says the louder boy.

“Minhyuk-ah! Don't be rude,” the short, pretty one frowns. 

Hyungwon looks around awkwardly. “Kihyun-hyung,” he says. “You have time to talk, right?” 

Changkyun looks up from his work. He glances at the couple, and then back at Hyungwon. “Oh,” he says. He closes his notebook and stands up. “Sorry, I’ll go.” 

Hyungwon winces. “It’s—I wasn’t trying to be rude,” he says. 

Changkyun just gives him a little smile. A pair of dimples pop out. “See you later.” 

He leaves. Hyungwon slumps down in his seat and groans. 

“You’re a disaster,” marvels the one Jeongguk supposes is Minhyuk. “Who’s this?” He looks at Jeongguk. 

“This is Jeongguk,” Hyungwon says. “Jeongguk, this is Jooheon and Minhyuk. And this is Kihyun, who we are _ actually _here to talk to.” 

Minhyuk ignores him. “We haven’t met before, right?” 

“Uh,” Jeongguk says. “No.” 

“What’s going on, Hyungwon-ah?” Kihyun asks. 

Hyungwon sighs. He looks at Jooheon and Minhyuk, then back at Kihyun. “You know those... things I can do?” 

“Your weird superpowers,” Jooheon says. “The Spider-Man stuff.” 

“Right. That.” 

“I can do it, too,” Jeongguk says. 

Kihyun looks at him in surprise. “You can?” 

“Yeah, but—“ Jeongguk looks at Hyungwon. He holds his notebook out to Kihyun. “Maybe you should look at this.” 

“I can’t believe the universe dropped another Spider-Man into your lap,” Jooheon says while Kihyun looks over Jeongguk’s notes. 

“Univers_ es,” _Minhyuk adds. “Do you think it’s to light a fire under your ass, Hyungwon-ah? Since you and your powers have just been hanging out?” 

Hyungwon looks a little annoyed at the question. He doesn’t want to be Spider-Man, Jeongguk remembers. “Mind your own ass,” he tells Minhyuk. 

“I can mind his ass,” Jooheon offers. 

Hyungwon balls up a piece of paper to throw at him. 

“Being careful not to take anything from this movie too scientifically,” Kihyun says, looking up from Jeongguk’s notes—he and Hyungwon snap to look at him— “It does seem to fit with the multiverse theory the way I know it.” 

“Multiverse theory,” Jeongguk repeats. “We don’t even have a theory where I come from.”

Kihyun leans forward with his elbows on the table. “I don’t know how to help you,” he says. “I’ll try, though.” 

  
  
  
  


It’s a pretty morning as Jeongguk walks up the steps to the library. 

Sicheng smiles and mumbles a little _ “good morning” _as he walks in. Jeongguk slides a cup of coffee across the desk to him, and Sicheng collapses forward onto the desk. “Thank you,” he groans. 

Jeongguk grins and walks around to sit in the extra seat Sicheng has pulled out for him. That might not technically be allowed, but over the last week or so Sicheng has stopped even glancing around suspiciously to make sure there are no supervisors around. 

Jeongguk has taken it to mean that they’re friends now. He usually spends most of Sicheng’s morning shift in the library with him, after that time a couple weeks ago when he walked in and Sicheng asked him if he was okay, since the first time he saw him Jeongguk was running to keel over in the bathroom. 

He definitely thinks Jeongguk is a student here. That’s a good part Jeongguk’s fault, since he _ did _ tell Sicheng the research he’s doing is for a science project, and he _ has _continued to take notes from books and online articles he found through the school’s databases. 

Nothing has really been helpful. 

Jeongguk and Hyungwon aren’t any closer to figuring out how the hell Jeongguk got here, or why the hell he’s here, or how the hell they can get him back. Or do anything, really—including stopping whatever makes Jeongguk feel like he’s going to die for a minute or two at a time, for no apparent reason. 

Even Kihyun, although the multiverse theory is really exciting to him, hasn’t really been able to help. 

Jeongguk says goodbye to Sicheng before lunch time. He meets up with Hyungwon to give him a paper he needed printed, and then heads to the cafe by himself. 

It’s busy, but his normal table is empty. Mark waves at him as he walks in, then waves him out of line. He sits, and a few minutes later Jaehyun brings him his food. 

Jeongguk grins at him. “Thank you.” 

“Anything you need,” Jaehyun says with a little wink. 

Jeongguk eats, then spends most of the afternoon there, at his same table. He goes over his notes, like always, religiously. Jaehyun comes over to ask how studying is going and when Jeongguk just groans, he brings him a free drink. 

Mark comes over to bother him on his break, then switches out with Jaehyun in time for Jaehyun to spend his own break flirting with Johnny. Johnny jumps between confident and panicked quicker than anyone Jeongguk has ever seen, which is really fun to watch. 

Hyungwon finishes his last class late in the afternoon, so Namjoon and Jeongguk are alone once Jeongguk goes back to the apartment. 

It seems okay. Namjoon hasn’t given any indication that he has a problem with Jeongguk being in his space, and just to be certain, Jeongguk has made a point to help keep things clean. 

So he folds Hyungwon and Namjoon’s laundry in the living room, while Namjoon does homework in the kitchen. 

This is when Jeongguk wants to go home the most. When he’s with Hyungwon’s Namjoon. He’s a nice guy, even though he’s awkward, but he isn’t Jeongguk’s Namjoon. 

Jeongguk misses his Namjoon. 

It’s not so bad when this Namjoon joins him to help fold the laundry, though. He’s sweet, and always tries to jump in when Jeongguk is doing things for them. 

Hyungwon and Namjoon are pretty terrible at grocery shopping. So Hyungwon gets back from class, and then he and Jeongguk walk to the corner store to find something for the three of them to eat. 

“Anything new today?” Hyungwon asks as they walk back, like he has every day for the last two weeks. 

“I wish.” Jeongguk isn’t sure either of them really believe they’re going to find what they’re looking for. But he does feel lucky that he has Hyungwon. 

The sun is well on its way down, and they’re near the apartments when a small, lithe figure drops from a balcony and lands right in front of them. 

Jeongguk jolts, and Hyungwon yelps and takes a big step back. 

The person straightens up. He’s wearing a suit, something like the one Jeongguk wears but much nicer.

“Good,” he says, and flashes them a perfect, white smile. “Exactly who I was looking for.” 

**Author's Note:**

> find us on twt! [el](https://twitter.com/virgocrushes) and [hollie](https://twitter.com/joonisthemoon)


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